The following was written by a Local 608 Carpenter. It's lengthy, but this excerpt jumped out:Our industry is bearing the brunt of the worst economic crisis in our lifetimes – the question is, what the hell can we as construction workers do about it?
...we have to reach out to our immigrant brothers and sisters, who make up a majority of the construction workforce in this city, and almost a third of the trades across the country.
This means joining hands with them to demand full unconditional amnesty for undocumented immigrants, and immediate green card status to all immigrants presently in the country.
They are virtual slaves to their bosses, and can be deported at a contractor’s whim. They are often brutally superexploited and horribly underpaid, it’s about time they got some justice, and we need to help them.
WINTER IN AMERICA...how construction workers should respond to the meltdown
22 comments:
This guy is an idiot.
I don't even have to read the full article, I simply skimmed it for about 15 seconds.
I'm willing to bet that the author is either an: Afro-Marxist; or a whiney white weeny who's "well RED".
I agree with the author. As long as capitalists can exploit undocumented workers by paying no Social Security taxes, Unemployment, workers compensation and NYS Disability Insurance and much lower wages, the longer all workers will suffer.
translation:
"The more people paying into the union coffers, the better off the union leaders will be!"
Union workers are misled, often with scare tactics, about how evil the world outside a union shop is.
Those dues you pay out of each check go to pay other peoples salaries, bonuses, and perks.
"The more people paying into the union coffers, the better off the union leaders will be!"
Also: The more "undocumented guest workers" we legalize, the more the membership in the Democratic Party grows! The U.S. becomes a one party country, and the Machine can control the spoils!
Wade Nichols only needs 15 seconds to pass judgement. What a surprise!
I nominate Wade Nichols for idiot savant of Queens Crap.
Wade speaks with a hell of a lot more sense then the politicans, editors, and city planners out there and has the panache to say it in style.
"Wade speaks with a hell of a lot more sense then the politicans, editors, and city planners out there and has the panache to say it in style."
wade can be sort of a tool sometimes too
Wade Nichols only needs 15 seconds to pass judgement. What a surprise!
I nominate Wade Nichols for idiot savant of Queens Crap.
Who's the bigger fool here? Me for "only" spending 15 seconds on this drivel? Or you for actually sitting there and reading the whole damn thing, thus lending legitimacy to this pseudo intellectual dreck?
It's clearly posted by Crappy for an end of the week comedy break, nothing else.
Wade speaks with a hell of a lot more sense then the politicans, editors, and city planners out there and has the panache to say it in style.
Thank you, that's mighty kind! Enjoy your weekend, Hell Gate Kid!
wade can be sort of a tool sometimes too
Oh, and who's "pulling my strings"?
I wish I was a "tool", I could use the additional income.
But if I could be a tool, I'd be a jack hammer!
we have to reach out to our immigrant brothers and sisters, who make up a majority of the construction workforce in this city, and almost a third of the trades across the country.
ok because your unions are going broke fuck you non union is the way to go unions are killing us ,all you want is more money and more money i broke the union 3 years ago and now save 15,000 a month , better in my pocket
spending 15 seconds on this drivel?
But if I could be a tool, I'd be a jack hammer!
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um-um-um-um
Wadie, I am shocked. Calling your fellow members of the Krappie Krew drivel? You'd think we spend our time filing 10-Ks or the like.
But we must have lunch sometime. Heinz is fine, but no Grey Poupon though.
I like my wiskey straight and my politics straight up.
And for God sakes, leave that lobster home.
Expand union membership, vastly increase the revenues for the union. If you turn a blind eye to illegal immigration then you turn a blind eye to terrorists whom will exploit this weakness.
The liberal mantra has been - "they do the jobs Americans wont do". Now the economy is in the tank, and Americans WILL do those jobs.
The mantra was a falsehood to begin with and looks even more so with each passing day.
The liberal mantra has been - "they do the jobs Americans wont do". The mantra was a falsehood to begin with and looks even more so with each passing day. Now the economy is in the tank, and Americans WILL do those jobs.
Exactly! So, your grunting that the mantra was a falsehood is backward and simple in the great Bushian tradition. Forget good/evil, black/white, etc. and embrace a more subtle world.
The "liberal" mantra of "they do the jobs Americans won't" is demonstrably accurate during economic boom times and, as you yourself have keenly observed, not so true when markets tank. So maybe these laboring illegals are our economic canary - when they disappear, watch out below!
There are Americans who have been unemployed throughout the boom times and they would do the work if given the opportunity. And high school or college kids would, too. If you aren't given the opportunity to enter the workforce because an illegal has your job, then you are not counted as unemployed.
wade can be sort of a tool sometimes too
Oh, and who's "pulling my strings"?
I wish I was a "tool", I could use the additional income.
But if I could be a tool, I'd be a jack hammer!
Not for nothing, your comments are fitting in with your namesake. I'm just saying...
There are Americans who have been unemployed throughout the boom times
Exactly... you couldn't have made the point better if you'd tried. Unemployment is a built-in feature of our economic system. It's always been there, illegals or no.
And high school or college kids would, too.
Bullshit. High school and college kids are notoriously picky... and seasonal. They're not going to consistently do the kind of semi-skilled labor we're talking about here.
If you aren't given the opportunity to enter the workforce because an illegal has your job, then you are not counted as unemployed.
Hmm, that's about the most confused version of that I've heard. And, ultimately, wrong.
True, if you're not part of the "labor force" then you won't be counted as unemployed. But this has nothing to do with who "has your job." As long as you are actively seeking work (have applied for a job within the past three months, have not given up hope) then you are considered unemployed. And part of the labor force.
High School Students have bagged groceries, mow lawns, walk dogs, babysit, act as apprentices - these things are being done by illegals now and none of them are seasonal. You need to have an employment history before you can collect unemployment, was the point being made.
High School Students have bagged groceries, mow lawns, walk dogs, babysit, act as apprentices - these things are being done by illegals now and none of them are seasonal.
Oh, I thought the article was about construction workers. Apparently it was about babysitters and grocery baggers.
Mowing lawns, by the way, IS seasonal work.
I don't even know how to approach your assertion that high school students have served as apprentices.
"High school and college kids are notoriously picky"
I went to college and worked on construction sites in my spare time. A lot of 2nd generation Italian, Irish and Polish guys do it. You need to pull your head out from wherever you are sticking it and take notice. Life isn't always the way it appears on paper.
I went to college and worked on construction sites in my spare time... You need to pull your head out from wherever you are sticking it and take notice. Life isn't always the way it appears on paper.
Yes, IN YOUR SPARE TIME.
As did I. I also carried furniture for a moving company and cut plywood in a lumber yard. Seasonally.
Part of my point, if you'd read back a little, is that HS and college kids do this work SEASONALLY. i.e. they can't be relied on for regular, year-round labor. Back to square one.
Nope, not seasonally. It was my steady part time job for 5 years.
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